Jefferson County contains one city and twenty two towns. For those not acquainted with New York State's quirks and habits, town means township. Therefore, when you look for Plessis or Redwood among the towns listed for Jefferson County, you look in vain. Alexandria Bay is a village. In common with other villages of New York State, it has an elected mayor, clerk, and board of trustees. Even smaller than villages are hamlets, which carry on their affairs without mayors or trustees. Villages are subsidiary to the towns. Hamlets, like Redwood and Plessis have no political structure.

A person born in the Town of Alexandria was probably not born in Alexandria Bay. If she had been born in Alexandria Bay, the records would have so stated. Locally, when speaking of the township, we go to the awkward extent of saying "Town of Alexandria." Newcomers to this area often confuse Alexandria Bay with the Town of Alexandria, something a native would not do.

Although I graduated from Alexandria Bay High School, I lived and attended elementary school in the Town of Alexandria. More precisely, I lived near Dingman Point, and attended Swan Hollow School. This antiquated system has obtained in Jefferson County for at least a hundred and fifty years, and was more important in the early days, when villages and hamlets were more nearly of the same size. In a largely farming community, neighborhoods like Dingman Point or Goose Bay or Browns Corners or Alexandria Center were known far beyond their imaginary boundaries.

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� Nan Dixon, 2001